Save You
by IceGirl2772
Summary: Rewrite of Talida Prime universe. What if Jack discovered the Transformers earlier than he did in the series? What adventures will he and Talida go on? Jack/OC Optimus/Arcee
1. Introducing Me

**Hey, guys!**

 **I mentioned in** ** _Talida Prime: Fading Suns_** **that I was considering doing a 'what-if' story concerning what if Jack found out about the Transformers earlier than he did in the series. I've gotten good feedback about the idea, so I've decided to go along with it.**

 **I'm writing this as part of the new Talida Prime universe I want to set up. In this, Jack and Talida won't end up being half-siblings and a whole lot of stuff that happened in the original Talida Prime series won't be happening in this one (mainly because I look back at them and go, 'What the hell was I thinking?').**

 **As for the story's title, I was listening to the song by Simple Plan A LOT and I felt it related to this. In this new series, I'll be naming my stories after songs. Chapters included.**

 **I own nothing except for this plot and any OCs that appear in this story.**

 **ENJOY!**

 **...or not...**

What is normal? They say that normal is conforming to a typical standard. In high school, normal meant being like everyone else. Essentially, being ordinary.

But it is as V.C. Andrews once said: "What is normal? Normal is only ordinary; mediocre. Life belongs to the rare, exceptional individual who dares to be different."

Talida Prime is definitely a rare, exceptional individual who dared to be different.

Many people around Jasper High School are willing to admit Talida is beautiful. Whenever she stepped out into the sun, her red hair would glow and whenever a breeze picked up the long locks that flowed down to the swell of her breasts, it would resemble a beautiful fire. Her blue eyes were intense, yet would remind one of an enchanting and delicate newly bloomed bluebell in a beautiful valley. Standing at five feet and three inches, her frame was petite with all the telltale signs of blossoming into a beautiful young woman. But that was as far as they would go with her.

They would say she was like Belle in _Beauty and the Beast_. Beautiful, but strange.

Talida wasn't like any other girls. The majority of girls at her high school obsessed over their looks, were afraid to do things that would potentially involve a trip to the local nail salon to buff broken nails; essentially, like those popular girls one would see in those cliched teen movies. Talida didn't care about the latest fashion. if she felt like it, she was not afraid to ditch her signature dark blue skinny jeans held up by a black belt, black tight tank top, black leather jacket and black knee-high boots for some ratty old clothes. Her favourite (and best) class was the male-dominated auto shop class where she could work on various engines and, on several occasions, beat the boys at their own game. She loved sports as much as the boys and is on equal level with them when it comes to cheering for her favourite teams.

Some would say that she was a boy trapped in a girl's body if they didn't know that she does sometimes like feminine things. Even if she rarely indulged in them.

"Hey, Jackie!" Talida beamed as she sat next to her best friend under a tree.

The aforementioned boy rolled his eyes at his best friend's nickname for him. At fourteen years old, Jackson "Jack" Darby felt he was too old for that particular moniker. However, the girl he had known since infancy had other ideas. She was also the only one who could call the raven-haired, blue-eyed teenager Jackie. Not even his mother was allowed to.

"You ever get tired of calling me that, Lida?" Jack asked with a slight sigh.

"Hey. We could be old and grey and fading to our bare bones and I'll still call you Jackie," Talida retorted with a smirk, elbowing the older (by two months) boy in the ribs, "You doing OK? You seemed pretty upset after leaving art class today."

Art Class had brought up a painful subject for Jack. As the school term was coming to a close, everyone was suddenly going crazy over Father's Day, which was a few weeks away. Unfortunately, their art teacher decided to take the opportunity to ask everyone to make a present for their fathers, bringing everyone back to kindergarten or at least the early years of elementary school. Unfortunately, Jack's father took off one day when he was young and even to this day, nobody knew where he was. As one could imagine, Jack struggled with the task of making a Father's Day present for a father who was no longer in his life.

The snide comments from Vince that sent Jack running out of the room almost in tears didn't help either.

"I'm fine. I just have to stop letting Vince get under my skin," Jack shrugged.

"Well, that's impossible," Talida scoffed, "You think he can't get to you and he finds another way to."

"Is he still making those comments to you?" Jack inquired.

Vince was known around Jasper High as the school bully. He didn't discriminate concerning who he targeted. He would just target anyone he felt was a worthy target. But one thing he was consistent on was how he talked to the girls, and that would always consist of disgusting comments, innuendos, and horrible pick-up lines.

"When doesn't he?" Talida sighed as she went to put the Father's Day present she had made - a special necklace with a unique symbol, wrapped with the card attached - into her backpack, before sighing in frustration, "Dude, you've got that dopey look again!"

Jack didn't listen to her. He was too busy staring at Sierra, his infatuation. Jack wasn't the only guy who had a crush on the cheerleader who was the favourite for becoming cheer captain the following year. But for Talida, Jack's crush was annoying.

If only because of her own feelings for him.

Yeah. She has feelings for her best friend. Hardly the first time that has happened. She realized she was in love with him just under tow years ago when an influenza epidemic spread throughout Jasper. Talida got sick, but was fine in a few days. Jack, on the other hand, didn't recover as fast as Talida had. In fact, he ended up in the ICU at Jasper Hospital. Seeing him struggle like that broke her heart and made her realize that, at the tender age of 12 years old, she was in love with him.

And it was obvious to Talida that he didn't feel the same way she does. After all, if he did have feelings for her, he wouldn't be crushing over Sierra the way he was.

"Jack... Jack... JACK!"

"Huh? What?" Jack stammered as he snapped out of his daze and focused on his best friend.

"Just figured I'd stop you before you started drooling. Again," Talida drawled.

 _HONK HONK!_

"And that's my ride," Talida smirked as she stood up and sling her backpack over her shoulders, "You still up for that movie marathon tomorrow night?"

"You bet," Jack nodded as he stood up to hug her.

"See you tomorrow!" Talida called over her shoulder as she raced to her ride.

"Ugh. If it isn't the school freak."

Talida rolled her eyes and turned to face Sierra and her silent, nameless friend.

"There's nothing wrong with being different, Sierra. The world would be one boring place if everyone liked the same things," Talida pointed out.

"But girls shouldn't like boys' things," Sierra retorted.

"You might as well say that home ec should be for girls only," Talida scoffed, thinking of her other male friends who preferred home ec to auto shop, "Look. You and I are two completely opposite individuals. You like really girly stuff and I like some of that stuff too. I just prefer more stuff that's normally for guys. And you know what? That's OK. Just don't tear me down for being different. If anything, I'm being myself because everyone else is taken."

"Whatever. All I know is everyone has their role in society and everybody should conform to it," Sierra sneered.

"You are proof that evolution can go in reverse, Sierra," Talida shook her head disappointedly, smirking when Sierra struggled to come up with a response, "Well, this is disappointing. I was hoping for a battle of wits, but it appears that you have stepped onto the battlefield unarmed. So I hope you have a lovely day and that you don't ruin mine so I can have one too."

With a smile, Talida hopped into the passenger seat of the red Dodge Challenger, resting her backpack between her feet on the floor. Automatically, the seatbelt reached across her towards the buckle and latched on tight, making sure the passenger was secure.

"How was school?" a male voice asked casually.

"Same old, same old," Talida shrugged to the dashboard as the car pulled away from the curb, "We had to make Father's Day gifts in Art Class today, so Jack was a little uncomfortable. One thing that didn't help was Vince's comments."

If there were other people in the car, some people would think Talida was being rude in terms of talking to the dashboard instead of the driver. However, they would also realize that there was no driver.

That would lead them to realize that she was actually talking to the car.

"Is he still making those comments to you?" the Dodge Challenger asked with a slight growl in his voice.

"It's a daily occurrence, Cliff," Talida sighed, "I wouldn't worry about him too much."

Cliff, known by his full designation as Cliffjumper, unintentionally revved his engines in anger, "That guy should be taught a lesson on how to treat a woman. And as your honorary big brother, I feel obliged to give him that lesson."

"I doubt he would listen," Talida shook her head, "No matter how much you and Bulkhead intimidate him."

"Good point," Cliffjumper relented.

The conversation shifted to Talida's other classes - especially auto shop - and some of Cliffjumper's experiences of the day until they arrived at a disused missile silo hidden in the mountains surrounded by desert.

This was also where Talida differed from the other girls at Jasper High School. Unlike the other girls, Talida lived in the disused missile silo rather than a house or even an apartment. Her family also differed as well.

Other girls didn't have sentient beings as parents.

"Hey, mum! Hi, dad!" Talida greeted as she raced up the stairs towards the recreation area in the base's central hub.

Some would say that Talida was half-alien. In a way, she was. She just preferred the technical term for her species: techno-organic. A techno-organic is the result of one Cybertronian mating with a human.

Or the mating of two Cybertronians who were turned into humans, as was the case for Talida's family.

The Decepticons had stumbled on a gun that had the ability to transform their enemies into the indigenous species of the planet they happened to be on. Nobody knew how or where they found the gun until Optimus and Arcee were hit during a battle not long after Team Prime first arrived on Earth and they work up in sickbay human.

The side effects of the gun lasted for one year. During that year, Optimus and Arcee, who had always hoped for a biological child since they first bonded, but always struggled to, finally had their miracle in the form of Talida Hope Prime.

Not long after the side effects wore off, the Autobots claimed the gun themselves and locked it away so that it could never be found or used by the Decepticons. Talida found it when she was eleven in one of the vaults and changed the mechanics of it so she could use it as a weapon.

But already, Talida differed from other techno-organics. She is an incarnate of the very first techno-organic - the Ruler Rayna - vessel of Primus and Cybertron's ruler until her mysterious disappearance mere weeks before Cybertron finally went dark. She inherited more than her looks (which were also, coincidentally, nearly identical to her mother's) from Rayna. She got her powers, which were just coming to light and she was still struggling to control.

"Hey, Tally," Arcee responded as she kissed her daughter's head, "How was school?"

"Bulk and I need to discuss giving Vince a few lessons on how to treat a lady!" Cliffjumper answered before Talida could.

"My fists have been itching to give that kid a bit of a pounding," Bulkhead smirked as he pounded his two fists together.

"Is he still saying those comments to you?" Arcee sighed in frustration.

"Yeah. I've gotta admit it. If I knew I could have gotten away with it, I would've decked him. Or thrown him in the trashcan. Or shoot him," Talida mused, earning a disapproving look from her mother, "He pissed me off!"

"I would disapprove of you using your immeasurable talents in a way that would result in you sinking to your opponent's level, Talida," Optimus rumbled.

"Well, thank you for ruining my mood following a gratifying one-sided battle of wits with Sierra," Talida grumbled.

"Oooh, you always love those!" Cliffjumper cackled.

"Even more so when I actually have a worthy opponent? Why do you think I am sort of upset Megatron suddenly disappeared last year?" Talida asked rhetorically.

Everyone wasn't surprised by her remark. Since she stumbled onto the battlefield at the tender age of seven, she has had a bond with Megatron. A bond nobody could explain. Even if they tried. They were compatible matches in terms of sparring - both with wits and weapons. There was also the strange behaviour where Megatron always tried to avoid hurting her if he could and he stated that kidnapping her was off-limits to the other Decepticons.

However, they didn't worry about that bond - or Megatron manipulating it to his own advantage - too much. There was a higher chance of Megatron deliberately hurting Talida than Talida defecting to the Decepticons. She was too much like her father in that aspect.

"You got any homework?" Bumblebee bleeped.

"Nah. The actual homework I got assigned, I was able to complete in study hall, and the rest of my teachers said that the homework would be the leftover classwork we didn't finish during the lesson," Talida shook her head, mulling in disappointment over how lazy a lot of her teachers were.

"Perhaps you would like to go scouting with Cliffjumper if your schoolwork and revision for the day is completed," Ratchet suggested as he handed her a scanner, "You will be heading to The Dark Hedges in Northern Ireland today."

"Yes! Another place that's on my bucket list!" Talida crowed happily as she pulled the piece of paper out of her bag and crossed the place off from her extensive list.

"What is on your bucket list exactly, sweetspark?" Optimus inquired.

"Go backpacking around Europe, climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge, see a Broadway show, help Fowler become less of a jerk, help Ratchet realize he doesn't have to be so grouchy all the time," Talida began listing.

"I am not grouchy! I am a realist!" Ratchet protested.

"So am I at times and you don't see me acting like an old grouch," Talida threw back.

"She's got you there, Ratch," Bulkhead chuckled.

"Well, as much as I would love to continue this battle of wits, Cliff and I have a date," Talida smirked as she grabbed the hover board that was leaning on the wall, hopped on it and slung the strap of her gun over her shoulder.

"Be careful, kid," Bulkhead warned.

"Always am!" Talida scoffed as she and Cliffjumper traveled through the GroundBridge portal.

Little did the Autobots realize that it would be the last time they saw Talida for a while.

 **Whatcha think? Could it be better? I struggled over this one FOR MONTHS!**

 **Before I go, I should point out some changes.**

 **Talida is Optimus and Arcee's daughter. It'll be kinda like** ** _Strange Beginnings_** **...except they don't leave their infant daughter on a doorstep. Bumblebee is Talida's adopted brother and they will not get together. Jack's still Talida's childhood best friend, but they're in love with each other. They just won't admit it. For one thing, Jack hasn't realized he's in love with her yet.**

 **Also, I'm hoping to make Talida and Ratchet's relationship a little bit more amusing.**

 **And yes. I'M BACK, BABY!**

 **BYE!**


	2. Pieces

**Wow! I cannot believe how well received this was! I'll start off with some review replies, as I always have done in the past.**

 **Awesomo3000: You quoted** ** _Thor_** **. I like it. THANK YOU!**

 **3luv3eva: You ask, I shall deliver.**

 **Mimzy94: Thanks. I may be some luck. If I'm honest, I tried watching the new series and I couldn't really get past the animation, personally. But that's just me. I may give it another shot.**

 **TheTalidaPrimeFan: Thank you!**

 **redlinevcr: We shall see, won't we?**

 **Don't judge me I'm a fangirl: Thank you!**

 **As I'm sure you all know by now, I own nothing outside of my OCs and this plot.**

 **I forgot. I originally meant to name the previous chapter something different, but for some reason, I went with** ** _Introducing Me_** **. Might be because** ** _Camp Rock 2_** **was playing on my TV for some reason. This time, it's** ** _Pieces_** **by Red. Needless to say, hearing this song made me want to go cry in a corner.**

 **ENJOY!**

 **...or not...**

 **Also, in terms of the late updates... BLAME UNI AND HAVING TO DO 70 HOURS OF VOLUNTEERING! Thank God they lowered it from the original 105...**

The Autobots weren't the only ones that had travelled to Northern Ireland.

The Decepticons were there as well.

Usually, they were lead by the ruthless warlord Megatron. The former gladiator had risen from the ashes of Kaon protesting the caste and guild system and promised a Cybertron where all would be deemed equals. With his movement gaining momentum, he was able to seek an audience with the Ruler Rayna and the High Council. It was there that Megatron revealed his true colours, taking about using violence as a means of achieving justice and even demanding to be named the next Prime. In his eyes, he was betrayed that day by his brother, Orion Pax, the archivist who would lead the Autobots against him in the war and become Optimus Prime.

With Cybertron now nothing more than a barren wasteland, Megatron and Optimus spanned multiple galaxies in their battles with their respective factions until they both - almost mutually - decided to settle down on Earth. They enjoyed twenty-three years of battles both through themselves and through their children. Like Optimus, Megatron had a techno-organic child of his own. A daughter named Malita Roberts.

With her dark brown hair and darker brown eyes, Malita appeared to be her father's daughter, inheriting his ruthlessness and his thirst for blood among other qualities. Quickly, as she grew older, the 24-year-old rose in the Decepticon ranks, taking on the role of an enforcer. As his child, she was also his natural heir to the Decepticon leadership.

But taking on a leadership role in the Decepticons was not something she desired. So instead, the role of Megatron's successor went to Starscream, his cunning - and cowardly - second-in-command.

That was who lead the Decepticons now. To everyone's surprise, Megatron decided to travel to deep space for an unspecified amount of time, promising that he would return with something that would give them an edge over the Autobots. It had been over a year since he left and they had still heard nothing from their master.

Not that the power-hungry Starscream was complaining.

"Well, we are at the location, but I see no sign of Energon!" Starscream complained before turning to the surveillance chief, Soundwave, "Are you sure we have the correct coordinates, Soundwave?!"

Soundwave was renowned not only for his skills in surveillance and his loyalty, but for his silence. He never spoke - only in the form of playing back excerpts from other conversations he just happened to pick up. So his only response was a nod.

"Commander Starscream!" a Vehicon called, "Autobots are in the vicinity!"

"Really?!" Starscream said in surprise, "Identification?"

"We are getting reports of the one they call Cliffjumper," the Vehicon nodded, "And Talida Prime is with him."

'Wow. Daddy Prime actually lets her out of the base?!" Malita scoffed with a chuckle, as the Prime's overprotectiveness of his teenage daughter was well known among the Decepticons.

"I believe this could be an opportunity we were waiting for," Starscream mused.

Immediately, Malita knew where Starscream's mind was heading.

"Starscream, need I remind you that my father has given strict orders that Talida Prime is not even to be harmed, never mind kidnapped?!"

"Malita, need I remind you that Lord Megatron is currently not with us and will not be back for some time? What our dear master does not know will not hurt him," sneered before turning to the gathering group of Vehicons, "Go after them. Bring the Prime girl to us. I want her alive and, if possible, unharmed."

"Yes, Commander Starscream!" the Vehicon nodded before he disappeared with his group.

"I still don't like this," Malita sighed.

"Think of what we can gain, Malita. We can learn the location of the Autobot base. We can bring Optimus Prime himself to his knees just at the mere thought of us harming his precious daughter," Starscream retorted, "She is the key to this war and that is something we must take advantage of."

"Where is that damn Energon?" Cliffjumper grumbled frustratingly.

Not long after Cliffjumper and Talida arrived, they had quickly picked up an Energon signal. Immediately, they decided to follow the signal, but it was proving to be a difficult task.

"Maybe the scanner's scrapped," Talida shrugged as she hit it with her hand.

"I just find it interesting that the girl who is top of her class in autoshop and has been Ratchet's apprentice for Primus knows how long just goes to hit the scanner like any other chump," Cliffjumper chuckled before asking casually, "Have you told Jack yet?"

"Told him what?" Talida inquired, pretending to be ignorant.

"That you love him, "Cliffjumper deadpanned.

Talida froze before finally answering him, "Telling him is not as easy as you think, Cliff. For one thing, he's practically drooling all over Sierra. For another thing, if I tell him and he doesn't feel the same way, there goes a lifetime of friendship. If I can't have him in my life the way I want, I have to settle with just our friendship."

"You should never have to settle," Cliffjumper shook his head, "You deserve more than anyone to be happy. You don't deserve to be forced to settle for second best."

"Hold on," Talida said, forcing Cliffjumper to stop, "When did we swap roles here? Usually, I'm the one reassuring you and telling you not to settle for second best."

"What can I say? I learned from the best," Cliffjumper smirked.

Talida just shook her head as she laughed. She could easily argue for the other way around.

However, an explosion tore that opportunity from her.

"You're worried," Arcee stated knowingly.

When Talida and Cliffjumper left, the base had gone quiet. After all, Cliffjumper and Talida were the source of life in the abandoned missile silo with Cliffjumper's never-ending chatter and Talida's youthful optimism and wisdom. It was certainly strange to have them both gone at the same time.

"She's just a child, Arcee," Optimus rumbled.

"She's 14, Optimus. She's been going on these patrols since she was seven," Arcee pointed out.

"Only because she stumbled onto a battle with Megatron," Optimus retorted before raising an eyebrow, "Usually, I'm the one placating you about our daughter."

"We have to switch roles every once in a while," Arcee shrugged as she lent into her spark mate's embrace, "You and I both know Talida can take care of herself. Besides, Cliffjumper's with her. You and I both know he would never let anything happen to her."

That only placated Optimus' concern slightly. Deep down, he knew Arcee was right. Talida was a capable fighter in her own right - both in hand-to-hand combat and weaponry (including her new partners) - not to mention her resourcefulness. He also knew that any member of Team Prime would lay down their lives for her if it ever came down to it. Even Ratchet. However, like any other father, he still worried.

"OPTIMUS!"

Seeing Bulkhead run in the way he did wasn't doing anything to ease his worries either.

"There's trouble! Cliff and Tally are being attacked by Decepticon troops!" Bulkhead panted.

The thought of their child being in danger was enough for Optimus and Arcee to sprint upright.

By the time Optimus, Arcee, Bulkhead and Bumblebee got there, it was all over.

Trees were fallen. Fires were spreading. Vehicons lay dead at their feet. However, they were not their concern.

Cliffjumper and Talida were.

"Fan out," Optimus ordered, "Bulkhead, Bumblebee, head east. Arcee and I will head west."

"Got it," Bulkhead nodded as they split up.

Usually, Arcee was a strong-willed warrior. Even after all the traumas she endured during the war - including the brutal murder of her family under Decepticon hands and being captured and tortured, which included being forced to watch as her first battle partner was executed before her eyes. However, the mere thought of her child - her baby - in danger crushed her resolve more than the war ever did.

Optimus sensed this. In fact, he felt his own resolve cracking as well. However, he was still a Prime. He couldn't afford to let his emotions slip through the cracks. Not yet, at least. But he still couldn't ignore the icy grasp that paralysed his spark in fear.

A groan pulled Optimus and Arcee from their thoughts. Whipping around with their blasters armed and charged, they saw Cliffjumper lying on the ground. The resident conversationalist was a little worse for wear with dents and bruises covering his body and some wounds that were leaking precious Energon.

"Cliff!" Arcee gasped as she raced forward and pushed the tree that was pinning his legs away.

"What happened?!" Optimus demanded.

"They came out of nowhere," Cliffjumper gasped, coughing Energon into Arcee's lap as she knelt beside him, "There were about ten Vehicons. Maybe more. We tried taking them on. Then Starscream came into the picture. He started the fires.

"Where is she?!" Arcee finally asked the question she and Optimus dreaded asking, "Cliffjumper, where's Talida?!"

"I tried...," Cliffjumper breathed weakly, "I tried... to save her..."

"CLIFFJUMPER, WHERE IS SHE?!" Optimus finally roared.

Bulkhead and Bumblebee arrived in time to hear Optimus roar the question. They almost wish they weren't there when they heard Cliffjumper's answer before he lost consciousness,

"She's gone. Starscream took her."

 **OK. What should happen next? Talida wake up aboard the Nemesis? The Autobots come to grip with what happened? Jack find out Talida is missing? HELP ME!**

 **BYE!**


	3. Pray Tell

**WHOO! I'M BACK!**

 **REVIEW REPLIES!**

 **Awesomo3000: Big emphasis on the yet. Remember. This takes place a couple of years before the series begins.**

 **Airreon Princess: I'm liking that idea.**

 **3luv4eva3: That may work.**

 **TheTalidaPrimeFan: Ten stars? I think that's a first for me. I'll take it!**

 **OK. I had an extremely difficult time finding a suitable song for this chapter. I ended up going with** ** _Pray Tell_** **by Anberlin. Don't ask me why because I can't explain it other than saying it fits in a way. I actually used their song** ** _*(fin)_** **for a presentation at uni. Got 100%. Needless to say, I'm proud of myself.**

 **ENJOY!**

 **…** **or not…**

* * *

The first thing Talida felt when she woke up was pain.

Gasping, Talida tried to right herself, but looking up, she found that she couldn't. Her hands were chained up.

"Great," Talida muttered as she blew a stray strand of hair out of her face.

Looking down at herself, she couldn't find any sign of blood on her body. This relieved her slightly. She also couldn't feel any bones that were broken. At the most, she was bruised from the explosion.

She heard the familiar click and hiss of a door opening. Glancing in the direction of the door, she came face-to-face with Starscream.

"Ah, you're awake, Miss Prime," Starscream sneered as he approached her, "I must confess. I was rather worried about your condition after that explosion, but I was reassured that you had not been seriously injured."

"What have you done to Cliffjumper?" Talida demanded, struggling against her bonds.

"Last we heard, he was still where we left him," Starscream shrugged nonchalantly, "Lying on the ground as his Energon stains the forest floor."

Talida did not display any outward emotion at Starscream's words. She only continued glaring at him. She knew deep down that Cliffjumper wasn't dead. The Autobots would have heard about the explosion and gotten him to safety.

"You should give Cliffjumper credit. He's survived worse," Talida stated.

"So have I, Miss Prime," Starscream drawled, "Surely by now, you must be wondering why you were brought back to the Nemesis rather than executed on the spot."

"Megatron's protection order," Talida responded without hesitation.

"Our master has still not returned from his travels in deep space," Starscream revealed, "With him gone, his protection order no longer means anything to me."

"I hope comes back while I'm still here," Talida remarked.

"I would not hang on to that hope. Instead, I would hope for survival," Starscream growled, "However, since I pride myself on being such a gracious host, I am willing to give you an offer. Tell me the location of the Autobot base. Betray the Autobots and join our noble cause."

"Why would I do that?" Talida scoffed.

"Even you must admit that from time to time you are more of a Decepticon than you are an Autobot. You carry both light and darkness inside of you," Starscream stated in a matter-of-fact tone, "You have potential, Miss Prime. Potential that is being wasted by the Autobots. The Decepticons will make sure your full potential is realized. Join me, and you will be my right-hand woman. Join me, and you will live. Join me and you will have a life better than what the Autobots could ever provide you."

"Wow. No wonder you haven't turned that many Autobots to the dark side. Your salesmanship sucks," Talida quipped.

Starscream just snarled, "Sleep on it. I'm sure you are feeling overwhelmed. Tomorrow, though, I will not be so gracious."

* * *

"PRIME!"

Optimus couldn't help but cringe at the booming voice that entered the base. There were many times where he did not want to deal with their human liaison. This was one of them.

"Northern Ireland is a mess! Local authorities are reporting large machines and a young girl being involved in a forest fire! We had to jump through some big hoops for them to make it as though their investigation never happened!" Special Agent William Fowler snapped, "So what the hell happened out there?"

"Cliffjumper and Talida were on patrol when they detected an Energon signal," Ratchet answered without diverting his attention away from Cliffjumper, "The Decepticons attacked them."

"How bad?" Fowler demanded.

"Cliffjumper will live. But he will be confined to the base for the next few weeks," Ratchet informed the government agent, "As for Talida, we are not sure."

"How can you not be sure?!" Fowler exclaimed in disbelief, "You hardly let that girl out of your sights!"

"By the time we arrived, the Decepticons were gone," Bulkhead began, "And they had taken Talida with them."

That shocked Fowler to the core. Naturally, as their government liaison, he knew about a lot of the history between the Autobots and the Decepticons. Something he definitely knew of was the strange bond between Megatron and Talida. After all, it was only because of that bond that the protection order was in place. Any Decepticon who deliberately set out to do any harm to her – or kidnap her – would incur a heavy penalty. He never knew what that penalty would be, but it was safe to assume that penalty was death.

"She's been kidnapped?!" Fowler barely managed to squeak out.

"It seems that with Megatron gone, Starscream believes the protection order no longer applies," Arcee muttered darkly, "I can't even begin to imagine what they're doing to her right now."

"Our daughter is resilient, Arcee. She can hold strong," Optimus attempted to reassure her.

"You and I both know how ruthless the Decepticons are when it comes to interrogating their prisoners, Optimus!" Arcee snapped, "Yes, Tally's resilient, but is she resilient enough to withstand Decepticon torture?"

"We'll rescue her, 'Cee," Bulkhead vowed.

Bumblebee, who had been silent since finding out about his sister's abduction, chose that time to speak up, and Bulkhead didn't like what he had to say.

"So what?! We've done the impossible multiple times back on Cybertron, 'Bee! I'm pretty sure we can track down the Decepticon warship and get Tally back!" Bulkhead scoffed.

"On Cybertron, we had more readily available resources, Bulkhead. Those resources were also considerably far more superior than what we have now," Ratchet reminded him, "I have lost track of how long I've tried to find the right frequency and penetrate their cloaking technology and I haven't had any luck. Even with Talida's help in recent months, I haven't had that much luck. I don't know how long it will take and neither of us know how much time Talida has."

"We have one more problem," Fowler chose that moment to interrupt, "How are we going to tell Jack?"

That caused all the Autobots to freeze. That was one thing they hadn't considered. Jack and Talida were close, that much was obvious to them. They knew that Jack would start snooping and would eventually find out the truth. Talida had been longing to tell him, but feared of what would happen if she did, with her fears ranging from losing their friendship to the Decepticons killing him.

"For now, we will simply state the truth," Optimus decided after a moment of contemplation, "Talida Prime never returned home from school and is missing. An investigation is being conducted into her disappearance."

"Don't you think we should tell him the truth?" Arcee asked.

After pondering on his spark mate's question for a few moments, Optimus finally answered, "We will deal with that should the time come."

"I am going to go inform Jack," Fowler decided as he walked away, "Tally and I had something set up should something like this ever have happened."

Those words made Fowler feel as though a thousand daggers were stabbing his heart. She was only 14 years old. She should not have been worrying about this.

And yet here they were.

* * *

When June Darby knocked on her son's bedroom door, she did so with a heavy heart.

She found Jack sitting at his desk – that secondhand desk she had bought him when he first started high school – pondering over some Algebra questions. Many students would, no doubt, be staring at their maths homework – Algebra and otherwise – and wondering how these equations and advanced calculations would help them later in life and if they would even use them after high school. At times, Jack wondered that himself. But he didn't dwell on it for too long.

For one thing, it meant taking longer to finish the homework.

"Mum, I have to finish this Algebra homework. Can it wait?" Jack asked in frustration without looking up from the complicated equations laid out before him.

"No, son. It can't."

OK, that voice definitely didn't belong to his mother. It was too masculine for one thing. Looking up, Jack saw Agent Fowler standing beside his mother.

"My name is Special Agent William Fowler. I'm from the United States government," Fowler introduced himself, flashing his credentials briefly, "I need to ask you a few questions."

"Why?" Jack demanded.

Fowler didn't answer him. Instead, he asked him another question, "Do you know Talida Prime?"

Too stunned by the man's directness, it took a moment for Jack to answer, "Yeah, I know Lida. We've been friends since we were kids. Why are you asking?"

"When was the last time you saw her?" Fowler inquired.

"This afternoon. School had finished. We were sitting under the tree talking about art class. We had to make a father's day present and I got a bit upset," Jack answered.

"What about afterwards?" Fowler demanded, pretending it had something to do with her 'disappearance'.

"She started teasing me about my crush on this girl in our grade. Sierra. She's on the cheerleading squad and the favourite to become captain next year," Jack responded with a slight blush, "Then her ride showed up."

"What did her ride look like?" Fowler questioned smoothly.

"It was a Red Dodge Challenger. But I had seen it pick her up from school before. Lida told me that it was an uncle of hers who had returned home from deployment," Jack shrugged, "She had a verbal sparring match with Sierra and left."

"I'm sorry, but why are you questioning my son about Talida's activities at school?" June couldn't help but ask.

Fowler did not know how to answer, so he settled with his renowned directness, "Because Talida never made it home."

The sensation Jack felt could only equate to being punched in the gut hundreds of times, resulting in the wind being knocked out of him. No. Fowler had to be lying. He had seen Talida a few hours ago and she was fine. She was looking forward to the movie marathon they had planned for the next night.

"What do you mean she never made it home?!" Jack demanded.

"There was an accident. Her uncle is being closely monitored at a military hospital and Talida was unaccounted for," Fowler responded.

"Why is the government taking an interest in Talida's disappearance?" June inquired.

Fowler had been prepared for that, so he already had an answer prepared, "Her parents are part of a highly-classified project. I cannot go into details, but when a family member of two prominent soldiers within the project mysteriously disappears, the government takes it seriously; especially giving the sensitivity of the project."

"You think someone opposed or desiring the project for themselves took her, don't you?" Jack asked, although it sounded more like a statement than a question.

"Right now, we're looking at all possibilities and pursuing every angle," Fowler responded diplomatically before standing up and holding out a card, "Thank you for your time. If you think of anything that can help with the investigation, give me a call."

Jack accepted the card without hesitation with determination in his eyes. Inwardly, Fowler couldn't help but be impressed with the teenager. Talida had been right about him. He was definitely someone who would do anything for his loved ones and was worthy enough to be trusted with the truth of Talida's origins and the 'project' he mentioned when the time came.

He couldn't be sure if Jack's mother would be happy about it, though.

"I'll show you out," June decided as they left.

As soon as June shut the door to his bedroom, Jack raced to his closet. His eyes were drawn to the backpack that laid hidden in the back corner behind some of his clothes and other knick-knacks. Placing it on the bed, he opened the zipper and analyzed the contents.

Water bottle. First-aid kit. Ration bars. Multi-purpose pocketknife. Magnesium fire-starter. Sunscreen. A whole variety of other stuff.

As he looked through all of his supplies, he began to understand in a way why Talida insisted he had this prepared. When she first gave it to him, he thought she was being paranoid, but he took it anyway to ease her conscious. Now, he loved her for giving it to him.

Wait. Did he just say love? Yes. He did feel something for Talida. He just didn't feel comfortable saying what it was because he didn't understand it himself.

His mind made up, Jack raced to the kitchen to fill up his water bottle.

"What do you think you're doing, young man?" June immediately asked.

"I'm going out to look for Lida," Jack shrugged casually as he turned the tap on.

"Oh no you don't!" June immediately objected, "I am not letting you go out at this time of day to look for her!"

"I know what I'm doing, mum!" Jack defended himself as he screwed the lid on the bottle.

"Do you really?" June couldn't help but ask as she followed her son into his bedroom, "I don't think you understand how dangerous it can be out there!"

"Mum, it's Jasper! Nothing ever happens around here," Jack scoffed without thinking.

"Your best friend was in an accident on the way home from school and is now unaccounted for!" June snapped, causing Jack to tense slightly, "I don't think you can say nothing ever happens around here anymore."

"You do know we have been playing survival games, right?" Jack drawled as he zipped his backpack shut.

"But those are games, Jack! It's a hell of a lot different from reality!" June continued to object.

"Mum, seriously. I know how to survive out in the desert. Lida gave me this emergency kit for a reason," Jack attempted to placate his mother's worries as he slipped the straps of his backpack onto his shoulders.

"It's not enough!" June yelled as they walked into the garage where Jack's bike was resting against the wall next to her car.

"I can't just sit here and do nothing knowing my best friend is out there in trouble! I need to go out and at least try to find her! I'll never forgive myself if I don't do something and she turns out dead!" Jack finally snapped, "I need to at least try and do something. She'd do the same for me."

Those words caused all arguments June had to cease. She knew her son was right. She knew first hand that Talida would do anything to protect Jack. She remembered two years ago when Jack was hospitalised because of the influenza. Talida did a better job of abusing the doctors than June – an ER nurse – ever could. When June asked how she managed to do that, Talida only responded that she had years of experience before walking off to continue her vigil at Jack's bedside.

One could imagine June's reaction if she ever found out where Talida's 'years of experience' came from.

June sighed before relenting, "Just be careful out there and be back before dinner."

Jack barely waited for the garage to open fully before he rode out onto the streets of Jasper.

He knew his chances of finding her were next to none, but as he explained to his mother, he couldn't just sit back and do nothing when his best friend was in trouble.

Even if he didn't have the slightest clue of the kind of trouble his best friend was in.

* * *

 **Well, that's it. Could be better, but I think you will admit I've written worse. You guys should know the drill by now. Review. Fave. Alert. Whatever.**

 **BYE!**


	4. Thoughtless

**SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY THIS TOOK FOREVER! But…life happened. Including me going to Rome with my university choir. SO AMAZING! Highly recommend going!**

 **I'm not gonna do review replies because I just want to get straight into it. The song's Thoughtless by KoRn (although I listen more to the live cover Evanescence did in their concert).**

 **ENJOY!**

… **or not…**

* * *

"Wakey wakey…"

Moaning, Talida shifted slightly to find herself face-to-face with her captor.

"Don't you have something better to do, Starscream?" Talida asked, slightly annoyed.

"Nothing is more important than the Autobot I captured," Starscream sneered before motioning to Malita to undo Talida's bonds.

'How do you know I'm not gonna break your nose the minute you free me?" Talida snarked.

Sure enough, when Malita undid the bonds holding Talida's hands, Talida's arm went swinging, aimed for Malita's face. Smirking, Malita gripped her arm and twisted it forcefully behind her.

"I have quicker reflexes," Malita retorted as she tied her captive's hands behind her back.

Forcefully, Malita started pushing Talida towards her cell door, following Starscream as he headed towards a peculiar room not far from her cell. Immediately, Talida recognized it as a place the Decepticons liked to take their prisoners for interrogation.

The kind of interrogation depended on who the Autobot was and the Decepticon providing the interrogation.

"Yesterday, I gave you an offer," Starscream began as Talida was bound to a chair with her arms tied to the armrests by her wrists and her legs tied to the chair's front legs by her ankles, "I offered you the opportunity to renounce your Autobot allies and join the Decepticons. You rejected that offer. I've allowed you the chance to sleep on your decision. Now, I ask again. Join the Decepticons. Denounce the Autobots."

"It'll take a lot more than that to rattle me," Talida sneered.

Shrugging, Starscream turned to Malita and nodded. The older techno-organic smirked before slapping Talida across the face. The teenager didn't even give her tormentors the satisfaction of making her pain known to them. Even if she did taste blood on her tongue for her split lip.

"I will lose my patience before long, Talida," Starscream warned her, "But consider the offer shelved for the time being."

"It will be shelved for a long time," Talida spat.

"For now, let's focus on the Autobots," Starscream ignored her as he ran a sharp finger under her chin, "Tell me the location of the Autobot base."

"You're like a dog with a bone," Talida sighed, "You never know when to let go."

This time, Talida's defiance wasn't rewarded with a slap to the face. Instead, it was a punch to the stomach. Malita relished the sounds as her captive struggled to regain her breath.

"Give me a couple of hours with her. She'll talk," Malita promised.

"Oh, I have no doubt she will," Starscream smirked as he left the room.

"Now it's just you and me," Malita mused as she looked down at Talida while cracking her knuckles and rolling her shoulders, "Let's have some fun, shall we?"

Talida could handle a lot.

But she didn't know if she could handle Malita's interrogation techniques.

* * *

"Any luck?" Fowler asked anxiously as he walked into the Autobot base.

"Bulk, Bee, Arcee and Optimus are scouting where she was kidnapped. Zilch," Cliffjumper grumbled in anger as he tried to stand up from the medical berth, "I should be out there helping them."

"The only place you should be is on that berth recovering from your injuries!" Ratchet snapped, firmly forcing Cliffjumper back onto the berth, "You'd be no help out there with the state you're in!"

"She got captured on my watch, Ratchet!" Cliffjumper objected, "I will not be satisfied until I introduce those 'Cons to my horns!"

"It is Optimus' orders that you stay and recover!" Ratchet reminded him, "And you and I both know that Talida would not want you to jeopardize your recovery."

It was only those words that made Cliffjumper stop struggling against the medic. But it wasn't because he knew Ratchet was right. Or, at least, wasn't the only thing. It was the guilt that still overwhelmed him. The guilt of having to face her parents.

Optimus may have been a Prime, but one thing that was clear to everyone since Talida's birth was how much the Prime took on and the emotions that clung to him. He was still controlled, but it was still clear just how effected he was by his daughter's kidnapping, even though it had barely been a day since the abduction.

"How's Prime?" Fowler inquired.

"Trying to keep it together," Ratchet vented, "Arcee didn't sleep at all."

Fowler didn't even try to attempt to hide his grave expression as he took in just how much the Autobots were falling apart already.

"How did Jack take the news yesterday?" Cliffjumper wanted to know.

At that moment, the GroundBridge whirled to life and Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Arcee and Optimus walked through the swirling vortex back into the abandoned missile silo. They had heard the question as they walked in and were curious to know the answer themselves.

"Shock. Disbelief. How else would you take a loved one's disappearance?" Fowler asked rhetorically, "I have an agent keeping an eye on him from a discrete distance. He's been searching for her since she disappeared."

"Maybe we should tell him," Bulkhead suggested.

"Talida wanted to be the one to tell him herself," Ratchet pointed out.

"I don't think she saw this coming, Ratchet," Arcee said bitterly.

"We may not have a choice in this matter," Fowler warned them.

"Jackson does have the right to know the truth, but now's not the time," Optimus rumbled, "Talida would not want him involved."

"She wouldn't want him lied too, either," Bumblebee bleeped his objections.

"Like I said, I have an agent keeping an eye on him. Regardless of whether he finds out or not, Talida would want him to be kept safe," Fowler cut in.

"He has to be told," Cliffjumper voiced from his place on the medical berth, "Tally may be able to withstand the physical torture the 'Cons put her through, but she wouldn't be able to survive them using Jack to get to her."

Cliffjumper's words hit a hard truth for the Autobots. Talida didn't have a lot of weaknesses, but her one true weakness has always been Jack. Don't get them wrong. Talida loved her family and would do anything for them, but she also knew that her family was more than capable of protecting themselves from the Decepticon threat.

Jack, on the other hand, was unable to protect himself.

After all, how could you protect yourself from a threat you don't know about?

* * *

Talida began coughing as Malita punched her in the stomach once again.

"Don't you get tired of that?" Talida gasped as she desperately tried to fill her lungs with air.

"Don't you get tired of fighting?" Malita retorted before shrugging, "It's easy to make me stop. Just give me what I want or this continues. I might even turn this over to Starscream."

"You're the Decepticon enforcer for a reason, Malita. If you couldn't do it, what makes you think Starscream could?" Talida spat.

"Come now, Talida," Malita taunted, "What was Starscream's reputation in the war?"

Talida reflected on Malita's question. According to everything she had learned, Starscream was, in a lot of ways, more dangerous by Megatron, as he is less predictable and more willing to kill on sight than Megatron is. Of course, Starscream is also power hungry, egostistic, cowardly and paranoid, but right now, that was irrelevant.

Especially when she knew that Starscream was ruthless when he wanted to be.

"You mean he was just as much as a coward on Cybertron?" Talida quipped, smirking despite the pain from her split lip.

This time, Malita didn't reward her with a slap or a punch or violence of any nature. Instead, she laughed.

"You know, I may hate your guts, but I find you amusing," Malita mused.

"I'd like you if you weren't on the wrong side," Talida shrugged.

"So are you," Malita threw back, "You have my father's disease, Talida. It turned him dark. It will certainly turn you dark."

Talida froze in fear. She had heard the story from her father. She had heard how Megatron used to be good. How he used to fight for the innocent and oppressed. But he had the disease. The disease that corrupted you from the inside until nothing good of you remained. Her father defying him before the Council that day was the catalyst that sparked not only the war, but his disease.

It had become clear when Talida got uncontrollably angry during a training session and injured Bulkhead pretty badly when she was young that she had the disease as well. Granted, she could control it to an extent, but there were moments where the control would disappear and she would give into the darkness.

Lately, it had become harder and harder to bring her back whenever she descended into them.

"That doesn't define me," Talida shook her head.

"It will," Malita vowed, "Because one day, there will be no turning back. You might as well give in now."

"I have something that stops me," Talida spat, bracing herself for the hit that she knew was coming, "Something worth fighting for."

"And we don't?!" Malita snapped as she punched Talida across the face.

The force of the punch was enough to send the chair – and Talida – toppling over.

"We fight for Cybertron!" Malita proclaimed.

"After dooming it in the first place," Talida growled.

"Your precious father had a part in that as well! The Autobots are not entirely blameless for what happened to Cybertron and you know it!" Malita screamed in Talida's face as she held her up by her hair.

"We didn't poison the core," Talida hissed, "That was all you."

Yes. Talida knew that the next hit was coming. Granted, she didn't expect the hit to knock her out cold.

But it was so worth it.

* * *

"Well?" Starscream pressed as Malita walked onto the bridge.

"She's not talking," Malita grumbled as she examined her bruised knuckles.

"Where is she?" Starscream demanded.

"Back in her cell. I hit her too hard. Knocked her out," Malita shrugged, "But don't worry. I didn't damage her too much. Just the scrapes and bruises from my hits. When she wakes up, she'll be good for another round."

"Lord Megatron would surely be pleased when he comes back and finds that we have discovered the location of the Autobot base," Starscream simpered.

"If you could convince him the ends justified the means," Malita retorted, "You know that he will not be happy when he finds out you did it by capturing and torturing his niece, who was not to be touched by any Decepticon."

Starscream ignored her as he turned to Soundwave, "Man the bridge."

Together, Starscream and Malita walked off.

"Oh! Make sure you mention the disease when you take another shot at her," Malita suggested to Starscream as they walked down a corridor, "She's sensitive about that. Refuses to believe that what happened to my father will happen to her."

Starscream smirked as he walked past her cell and opened the door. Looking in, he and Malita saw that Talida was just beginning to stir.

"What? A girl can't take a breather?" Talida quipped.

"You should really…oh, what is it you humans say about watching what you say?" Starscream asked in frustration.

"Be sure to taste your words before you spit them out?" Talida offered.

"I don't think that was it, but I do like that one, so that one will do," Starscream mused before snarling, "You should really be sure to taste your words before you spit them out. They could land you in serious trouble."

"Well, I figure I'm already headed for the scrapheap," Talida shrugged, "Might as well make the journey worthwhile."

"Malita treaded lightly with your interrogation today. I promise you that will not happen again," Starscream vowed.

Before leaving, he ran one of his claws down the side of her face hard enough to draw blood.

For good measure.

* * *

 **Guess what? I'M NOT DEAD! Like I said earlier, life got in the way.**

 **I'll try to be more regular with my updates, but I'm in my final year of my first degree and assignment time = hell. So no promises.**

 **So, how and when do you think Jack should find out the truth about the Autobots and his best friend? Remember. This story is about, 'What if Jack found out about the Autobots before the start of the series?'**

 **Bye-bye!**


	5. Broken

**Guess who's back in action!**

 **Review replies!**

 **wolverine12: You may never know!**

 **josephguy217: Your wish is my command!**

 **Awesomo3000: That is a good point.**

 **Arcee Pax (chapter 1): She is naturally beautiful, but she is one of those people who cares more about what's inside than what's outside.**

 **Guest: Yeah, it's a surrogate last name. Talida Pax didn't really quite roll off the tongue as well as Talida Prime did.**

 **Guest: That story has been abandoned for a long time, my friend. There's also the fact that I've lost touch with the people I was writing the story with.**

 **This chapter was so hard to name with a song title. In the end, I went with** ** _Broken_** **by Lifehouse. I like naming chapters after songs, but it's getting so hard to find the appropriate song. Especially since, lately, I've had Linkin Park's latest album on repeat. (Yes, I enjoy** ** _One More Light_** **. To me, it's good music. Sue me.)**

 **ENJOY!**

 **…or not…**

 **WARNING! Characters may be OOC. Especially Optimus, but that was, in a way, deliberate. I wanted him to stop being a Prime and be a worried father for two seconds. Is that wrong?**

* * *

For Jack Darby, his life was a routine. Go to school. Learn some 'valuable' lessons. (Like a lot of other teenagers, he questioned how he was going to use a lot of what he was learning in maths class.) Hang out with his best friend. Go home. Do homework. Talk to his best friend about some of said homework (as she was wicked smart) and maybe some girl advice. Have dinner. Skype his best friend. Go to bed.

Three days ago, his life became less of a routine.

Three days ago, he received the visit from that government agent – Agent Fowler, he thinks his name was – telling him that his best friend suddenly disappeared. Since then, he has been searching for her.

He rode all around Jasper looking for any sign of her. He rode his back through the streets, heading out of the town centre and into the wide desert that surrounded the small town.

He found nothing.

If he could search for her all the time, he would. But his mother had other ideas. He had to be home in time for dinner, even if she had an overnight shift at the hospital. He had to stay on top of his homework and his exam preparations. He had to go to school.

 _Talida would want you to go about life as normal,_ she had said.

Jack knew his mother was right, but he felt he had to do something. Especially considering how hard she had fought for him when he was hospitalized two years ago.

"Hey, Jack."

Jack looked up from his algebra homework and saw one of his classmates sitting across from him in the library.

"Hey, Peter," Jack sighed as Peter sat across from him.

"Have you heard anything?" Peter asked worriedly.

Talida's disappearance had spread like wildfire around the small town – especially around the high school. Some students – especially Talida's auto shop classmates – expressed their concern and even took part in small searches around the area (although they were never as extensive in their searches as Jack was). Others were indifferent. Her disappearance didn't interfere with their lives, so it didn't matter.

"Nothing," Jack shook his head sadly, "Agent Fowler's searching, but they haven't found anything."

"Have you found anything?" Peter pressed, "Everyone knows you search for her after school. You know it's dangerous to go out in the desert alone, right?"

"Lida and I hung out in the desert all the time!" Jack defended himself, inwardly wincing at how he had referred to his best friend in the past tense already, "Plus, I have the survival skills she insisted on teaching me."

Not for the first time, Jack wondered if Talida was hiding something from him. Whenever he wondered this, his subconscious always reminded him of the promise he and Talida made each other:

No secrets.

But even with that promise, he had to wonder.

 _Begin flashback_

 _"_ _Remind me again why we took algebra," Jack whined as he and Talida sat on his bedroom floor with their algebra homework sprawled in front of them._

 _"_ _When you find out, feel free to tell me," Talida requested as her eyebrows furrowed at the equation before her._

 _"_ _I think Mr. Munro hates us," Jack mused._

 _"_ _Well, we all hate him," Talida shrugged, "He's as boring as batshit."_

 _"_ _You know your dad would want to wash your mouth out with soap if he heard you, right?" Jack asked rhetorically._

 _Once again, Talida tensed slightly at any mention of her family. Jack knew Talida didn't have any problems with her family unlike a lot of their Jasper High classmates. In fact, she had a close relationship with her family, which consisted of her parents, her adoptive older brother, her surrogate grandfather and her surrogate uncles._

 _"_ _So did you work out question three?" Talida inquired, changing the subject._

 _"_ _What's up with you lately?" Jack couldn't help but ask, "You've shied away from topics surrounding your family before – even outright lied to everyone – but you've been taking it to the extreme recently."_

 _"_ _Nothing's going on," Talida scoffed._

 _"_ _You know I can tell when you're lying, right?" Jack drawled, "We've been best friends all our lives. We promised no secrets, but I can tell you're hiding something."_

 _"_ _If you ever find out, you'd understand why," Talida mumbled as she wrote down the answer to an equation._

 _"_ _If?" Jack repeated in disbelief, "Do you have no intention of telling me?"_

 _"_ _Jack, it's not that simple! If I could tell you, I would! But I can't! Because I'd be putting myself, my family and, more importantly, you at risk! And I don't want that! So can you please just drop it?!" Talida snapped._

 _"_ _Alright, alright! I'm sorry!" Jack cried out, raising his hands in defense, "I won't bring it up anymore. Not until you're ready."_

 _"_ _Just know that I want to tell you," Talida sighed._

 _"_ _So what's stopping you?" Jack inquired gently._

 _"_ _A million things," Talida grumbled, "So let's get back to work."_

 _End flashback_

Sometimes, Jack still found it hard to believe that she disappeared only two days after that conversation. Reflecting on that conversation, he had to wonder.

Did her secret play a part in her disappearance?

* * *

"You are improving, Cliffjumper, but you still haven't healed enough to transform and hold your vehicle form for long periods of time," Ratchet declared as he analyzed the results of the tests he had run on the injured Autobot, "So you're still confined to the base."

"Come on, Ratchet! I've been stuck in this base for three days! I need to do something!" Cliffjumper cried as he walked out of the chamber.

"I understand your frustration, but exerting yourself before you are ready will only make your injuries worse and result in an even longer recovery time," Ratchet did his best to placate his patient.

"You don't understand, Ratchet. Tally got kidnapped on my watch. First thing I did when I first came to Earth was promise that I wouldn't let anything happen to her. Then I let my guard down and she got captured! Would you be able to live with that?" Cliffjumper asked.

Ratchet knew that the question was rhetoric. Really, he did. But he still responded,

"You don't think I know how it feels? You don't think I am hating myself because I'm not smart enough to crack the Decepticons' cloaking device? You don't think I want Talida home as much as you do?! If not more?!"

"Ratchet," Cliffjumper began.

"I have already failed so many times! I have failed to save so many Autobots in the battlefield back on Cybertron! I have failed to restore Bumblebee's voice box! I have failed at finding a cure for Talida's disease! I have failed at so many things! I am not going to fail this!" Ratchet continued on.

Cliffjumper and Ratchet stood there, their chassis heaving with their heavy intakes.

"I cannot face Optimus and Arcee and tell them I cannot bring their daughter home. I cannot face Bumblebee and tell them I cannot bring his sister home. I cannot face myself and tell myself I cannot bring the one thing that has kept us going in this Primus-forsaken war home. And I can't face Jack…," Ratchet suddenly stopped himself at the mention of the techno-organic's best friend.

Jack had weighed heavily on their minds for a long time. That weight only became heavier and more apparent when Talida was kidnapped three days ago.

"You can't tell Jack you couldn't bring the girl he loves home," Cliffjumper sighed.

"We need her, Cliffjumper," Ratchet trembled.

* * *

"I don't understand why we can't just hit every Energon deposit we know of until we find a Decepticon and force them to tell us where they're holding Talida!" Arcee ranted.

"Arcee, be reasonable," Optimus warned her.

"How can you say that?!" Arcee asked, "How can you be this calm when our daughter is in Starscream's clutches? We all know what Starscream is like. We all know how far is willing to go to get what he wants. We don't know how long she has left!"

"And if we don't plan things carefully, we will have signed her death warrant!" Optimus finally snapped, rising to his full height, "Megatron's protection order won't matter! Her knowledge of both the inner-workings of the Autobots won't matter! The chance of finally learning the location of our base will not matter! If we act rashly, Starscream will only view her as a liability to be taken care of. I have seen it so many times back on Cybertron. I will not let her become another soldier I could not save!"

"She's not a soldier!" Arcee wailed, the tears she had been holding in for the last three days finally slipping, "She's our daughter!"

After three days of holding themselves together, Optimus and Arcee broke. The fear of the unknown was what broke them. They did not know how their daughter was holding up under Starscream's – and even Malita's torture. They did not know how much time she had left before Starscream game up on her.

They did not know if she was even still alive.

* * *

Talida was struggling to hold on.

In the three days she had been held captive, it has been continues torture with only a few moments reprieve – and that was only because they would sometimes torture her to the point of unconsciousness. Surprisingly, so far, they have been resorting to human forms of torture, such as beating, waterboarding and the usual psychological methods, such as the threat of physical harm.

She began sporting the physical marks of torture. Her bottom lip had split thanks to one of Malita's punches. Her stomach was bruised from Malita's repeated punches (don't ask her why, but the Decepticon enforcer liked to hit her in the stomach). There was a cut on her head from when Talida smashed her head on a techno-organic-sized dissection table after Starscream knocked her over. Her wrists and ankles had ligature marks from repeatedly being bound over the last three days.

She did not even want to contemplate her mental and internal injuries.

In that time, she hardly had any sleep, thanks to her torture. She definitely did not have anything to eat. She also did not have anything to drink.

She knew the rule of thumb for humans and the essentials and how long they could last before they died.

Three minutes without oxygen.

Three hours without shelter.

Three days without water.

Three weeks without food.

She could last slightly longer than the average human, but she still had a breaking point.

And she was close to it.

Talida moaned helplessly as she heard the familiar sound of her cell door opening. Opening her eyes, she was prepared to be greeted by Starscream and Malita for another round of continuous torture for information she would not surrender.

But to her surprise, it wasn't Starscream. Or Malita.

It was Soundwave.

"What are you doing here?" Talida asked, her voice hoarse from the session of waterboarding, the few times she screamed when she was beaten, and lack of water.

As usual, Soundwave didn't say anything. Deep down, Talida wondered why she had bothered trying to communicate with the Decepticon Communications Chief, who was renowned for his silence.

Wordlessly, he held up a cup to her.

A cup filled with water.

Gently, Soundwave pressed the cup to her lips, encouraging her to accept the offering. In the back of her mind, she wondered if something had been slipped into the drink as part of some new torture Starscream and Malita were trying.

However, her survival instincts kicked in and she readily accepted the cup of water.

Since her hands were bound, Soundwave fed her the water, careful to make sure she wouldn't choke. Once she had the water, he held up a piece of bread to her.

Talida couldn't help but wonder how Soundwave was getting access to human food, but as he held up the slice to her mouth, she decided to ask him later as she took a bite of the plain bread.

She needed something to keep her going.

Deep down, Talida wondered if Soundwave was only keeping her alive so Starscream and Malita could torture her for a little bit longer. Regardless of her not wanting to know the answer, she asked anyway,

"Why are you helping me?"

As usual, Soundwave didn't say anything. But he played her an audio clip instead.

" _Let it be known to all Decepticons, current or former! This child is under my protection! Anyone who goes out of their way to harm her shall be dealt with accordingly! In battle, she is to be left unharmed if it can be helped!_ "

Talida would recognize that audio clip anywhere. Soundwave witnessed Talida's first meeting with Megatron and recorded the proclamation so any Decepticon who joined the cause would know that she was not to be harmed.

Silently, Talida continued to eat the bread Soundwave was feeding her. She had no more questions for Soundwave or for his decision to keep Talida alive.

There were still some Decepticons who respected Megatron's orders despite his mysterious absence.

"Do you know where Megatron's gone?" Talida questioned after finishing her meal.

Soundwave shook his head. No one knew where Megatron had gone. They only knew that he was somewhere in deep space looking for something that he promised would shift the tide of the war in favor of the Decepticon cause. They did not know when – or if – he would return.

"Thank you, Soundwave," Talida said as Soundwave went to leave.

Soundwave froze for mere moments, as though he was surprised by her words. Regardless, he did not let his emotions show and he left.

A wave of exhaustion hit Talida and she found that she could not keep her eyes open any longer. No matter how hard she fought it, she found herself being pulled into what felt like eternal darkness.

* * *

 _When Talida opened her eyes, she was no longer in her cell aboard the Nemesis. Her arms were no longer shackled and she no longer bore any marks of torture._

 _So where was she know?_

 _"_ _Talida, what are you doing here?"_

 _Talida turned around at the sound of the voice. Suddenly, everything became clearer. Not only was she no longer aboard the Nemesis, she was no longer on Earth._

 _She was…she had no idea where she was, but she definitely knew where she was with._

 _"_ _Megatron?"_

* * *

 **Hello, Megsy! Nice to see you again, old friend.**

 **I wanted to sneak him in somehow and explain the bond they have because it is essential.**

 **I've gotten a lot of opinions about introducing Jack to the Transformers. Some have suggested stumbling on one of the Autobots transforming. Some have suggested stumbling onto the Nemesis and finding Talida. Some have suggested him not finding out about them until after Talida's saved. I'm still open to suggestions, by the way, but I definitely do want him to find out soon. Definitely leaning towards before her rescue as I want him part of her rescue mission in some aspects.**

 **You know the drill by now.**

 **In case there are some people here who also read my** ** _Loonatics Unleashed_** **fan fiction** ** _A Million Things_** **, I do have every intention to update that story. I'm just struggling to get the creative juices flowing and complete the chapter I've been stuck on for ages.**

 **Bye!**


	6. A Long December

**I am so sorry for the delay. I've been having intense writer's block like you wouldn't believe. Plus, there's a whole bunch of shit in my life that's been happening.**

 **Now, before I get started, I would like to say something. Over one month ago, Chester Bennington, the lead singer of Linkin Park, Dead by Sunrise and briefly Stone Temple Pilots, passed away. He was 41 years old. He was someone who saved a lot of people - including yours truly - from their demons. My heart goes out to his bandmates, his wife, his children, his family and everyone who loved him. We will always love you, Chester. May you rest in peace.**

 **REVIEW REPLIES!**

 **TriGemini Prime: I am so glad I was able to help you create your own character. And I love _Sound of Silence_ , especially Disturb's cover, so that will definitely get used sometime in the future. Might not be for this story, but definitely sometime in the future.**

 **Airreon Princess: Yes! I'm alive! Thank you for enjoying my stories.**

 **Awesomo3000: Yep. The only question is: is she hallucinating or is it something else?**

 **katmar1994: Wait no more.**

 **josephguy217: Thank you so much!**

 **3luv4eva: Ooooh... That is so good!**

 **Guest: It's co-authored, so I can't put it up for adoption without conferring with my two co-authors, which may be hard because we haven't spoken in years. To my dear fellow writers, this is something you have to take into consideration when you and another author write a story together.**

 **SnowKi: And more you shall get.**

 **Obviously, I own nothing related to _Transformers: Prime_ , aside from any original characters and storylines I decide to insert into the universe.**

 **I finally watched _Transformers: Robots in Disguise_ and I enjoyed it. Although, mum didn't like that I decided to make her watch it with me. Sorry, mum!**

 **You know how recently I took to the theme of naming chapters after songs? I've had a particularly hard time with this chapter, and I ended up using _A Long December_ by Counting Crows. Really beautiful song. Highly recommend listening to it.**

 **ENJOY!**

 **...or not...**

* * *

 _"Megatron?"_

 _"What are you doing here?" Megatron once again demanded._

 _"I have no idea," Talida answered before taking in her surroundings, "What is 'here' anyway?"_

 _"Luna One," Megatron responded._

 _"Cybertron's moon?!" Talida squeaked in surprise._

 _Megatron only nodded and looked over his niece. Talida followed his line of sight and saw a sight that broke her heart._

 _Cybertron._

 _"I can't believe this," Talida whispered as she took in the lifeless planet before her, "How could you do this?"_

 _"Your father had a part in this as well, my dear niece. Do not be ignorant of his role," Megatron scolded._

 _"I think there are a lot of things you guys could have done differently. Maybe you guys would still have a home," Talida grumbled bitterly, "Speaking of home, I've gotta get back to mine."_

 _"There has to be a reason you are here, my dear niece," Megatron said as Talida walked away from the view of Cybertron, "Where is your physical body?"_

 _"Where's yours?" Talida shot back._

 _"I'm here," Megatron retorted._

 _"So I'm a hallucination," Talida drawled._

 _"I don't know what you are," Megatron admitted._

 _"To answer your question, I'm aboard the Nemesis," Talida said hesitantly._

 _"WHAT ARE YOU DOING ABOARD THE NEMESIS?!" Megatron boomed in anger._

 _"You seriously don't think I'm there by choice, do you?" Talida scoffed._

 _"Starscream...," Megatron growled, correctly guessing that his second-in-command had disregarded his protection order and kidnapped his niece._

 _"And your daughter," Talida added, "They've been taking turns torturing me."_

 _"What for?" Megatron demanded._

 _"The usual thing. Location of the Autobot base, weaknesses in the Autobots, obviously trying to make me succumb to the disease and join the cause," Talida answered, "You guys need to work on your salesmanship."_

 _"Our 'salesmanship' has worked well with many Autobots in the past, my dear niece," Megatron retorted, "You, however, are a special case."_

 _"Why? Because my dad runs the Autobots?" Talida asked dryly._

 _"You do know who you are the incarnate of, right?" Megatron drawled._

 _"I know, I know, the Ruler Rayna. Reason number 375 why I would give anything to be a normal human," Talida grumbled as she sat down on a rock formation, staring at the lifeless husk of Cybertron in anger._

 _"If you were meant to be normal, Talida, you would have been born normal," Megatron said bluntly, "You are destined for a higher purpose. Rather like me."_

 _"So leading the Decepticons was your higher purpose?" Talida snapped, "I'm sorry. I know you're my uncle, but I can't ignore what you did."_

 _"But you ignore your father's role," Megatron stated._

 _"Of course I don't. I blame you both!" Talida yelled before taking a few moments to breathe and mentally count to ten, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you."_

 _Silently, Megatron just rested his hand on her back, frowning when his hand didn't go through her as he expected._

 _"So what are you looking for?" Talida asked._

 _"Something that will turn the tide of the war in the Decepticons' favour," Megatron answered, "What do you know of Dark Energon?"_

 _"Not much," Talida admitted._

 _"It is another form of Energon that I used during the War for Cybertron. It is also known as the Blood of Unicron," Megatron explained._

 _"Unicron the Destroyer?!" Talida repeated in surprise._

 _She knew that story well. The story of how Primus and Unicron had been at war for so long before Primus created the Thirteen Original Primes and the Ruler Rayna to finally defeat Unicron and his own creation, Nadia. No one knew what happened to either._

 _"It was used to corrupt Cybertron's core," Megatron revealed, "It was why we had to leave our home."_

 _Talida looked to her uncle in horror. She knew the Decepticons had somehow managed to poison Cybertron's core and it was Cybertron was the lifeless husk she knew it as today. But she had no idea that Dark Energon was used to destroy it._

 _"Why?" Talida whispered in horror._

 _"I wanted to destroy the Autobots. I didn't care who else got hurt," Megatron answered, "In war, you are blinded. There is a fog that prevents you from seeing what is directly in front of you. You never realize how far you have gone until the fog has lifted."_

 _"So why are you looking for more of the bad stuff?" Talida inquired._

 _"It is a highly dangerous substance, my dear niece. His blood is considered to be the anti-spark and is rumored to be able to revive the dead," Megatron responded._

 _"So you are going to use this substance to revive...maybe all of Cybertron's dead?" Talida guessed, horrified when Megatron responded to her guess with a nod, "Wow. So you're gonna have us fight zombies?"_

 _"What's a zombie?" Megatron asked in confusion._

 _"A dead person who has been brought back to life, but without the qualities that made them human," Talida clarified, "They're always shown attacking and eating humans and they're unable to think for themselves. They're tricky to kill."_

 _"So I am creating zombies," Megatron mused to himself, "I dislike the term."_

 _"When you think of a better one, let me know," Talida said as she, once again, focused on the lifeless planet before her, "So when will you be coming back?"_

 _"When I find what I am looking for," Megatron reassured her, "You will know when I am back."_

 _Talida was about to ask another question. She was about to ask how long that would take. But then she felt something pulling. A sharp tug pulling her away from wherever she is._

 _"What's happening?" Talida asked in fear._

 _"You are being pulled back, my dear niece," Megatron quelled her fears, "We will see each other again soon."_

* * *

"WAKE UP, YOU LUMP OF FLESH!" Starscream was screaming at her as she came to.

"Oh, I was just having a pleasant dream," Talida pouted as Malita began removing her bonds.

With her arms secured behind her back, Talida was pushed out of her cell and back to the interrogation room.

Talida knew the drill by now. Tied to a chair. Be beaten. Tortured by other means. The same questions and requests made repeatedly. Where is the Autobot base? Betray the Autobots. Give into the darkness inside you.

Well, she thought she knew the drill before they proceeded to pin her to a table.

"Today, I thought we would try something different," Starscream began, "We've tried the human methods of torture - some supposed to be so brutal, it would crack anyone. So I've decided to try other methods."

Smirking, Malita walked around her, waving an Energon prod in the air. Immediately, Talida was nervous at the sight of it, though she wouldn't give her captors the satisfaction of showing her fear. It was painful for Cybertronians. One could only imagine how painful it would be for someone made of organic matter.

Even if she was only half-organic.

"Really? An Energon prod?" Talida scoffed, trying to play off her nerves with bravado.

"It's painful for Cybertronians. Imagine how it would be for you," Starscream retorted, "But you won't have to go through the pain if you tell me what I want?"

"How many times must you hear the same answers to the same questions?" Talida asked in frustration.

Growling, Malita was quick to stick the Energon prod into her side. Inhaling sharply, Talida's back arched at the pain that was coursing through her body. However, she did not let out the scream that was pressing against her lips.

She would not give her captors the satisfaction again.

"Painful?" Starscream simpered.

"Been through worse," Talida spat, gasping when Malita shocked her again for a shorter amount of time.

"I honestly don't think you have," Starscream sneered, looming over her.

Malita smirked, just itching to be able to dish out more on her captive. Clutching the Energon prod tightly, she began to charge it up again and went to press it into her captive once more.

Talida didn't give into the urge to scream like she wanted to. However, she could not stop the brief shout of pain from escaping when the pain became overwhelming.

"Ah, what's this?" Malita asked.

Talida was confused, but to her horror, Malita reached into the front pocket of Talida's jeans to pull out a folded piece of paper. Slowly unfolding it, Malita smirked.

Without when looking at it, Talida could describe to you every detail in the photo. Jack and Talida were at the local KO Drive-in simply enjoying their time together after a particularly long day at school. Someone decided to take a photo of them together and since they loved the photo, they had it printed and kept it on them.

"Your boyfriend's cute," Malita smirked, "Perhaps we should arrange an introduction."

Immediately, Talida began struggling against her bonds, desperately trying to break free and rip that photo out of Malita's hands.

Maybe even throttle her enough to consider leaving Jack alone.

"Looks like we finally found her weak spot," Starscream mused as he observed her reactions.

"You hurt him and I SWEAR TO PRIMUS _**I'LL KILL YOU**_!" Talida screamed, her eyes flashing red for a brief moment.

"How? You can't even break free of your bonds," Malita tormented.

Breathing heavily as her eyes turned red once more, she began screaming as she struggled violently against her bonds. Starscream and Malita simply watched in amusement. They had been waiting for this since the moment they captured her.

They had waited for her to turn dark.

Malita's prediction was wrong. Talida was able to break free of her bonds, and the first person she lunged for was Malita. Grabbing her by her hair, she threw the older techno-organic into the nearest wall and chased after her. Malita, who was, admittedly, the stronger fighter of the two, was struggling to keep up with her opponent's rage. And when Talida pressed her thumbs into her airway, she truly began to fear for her life.

That is, until Starscream came up behind her and injected her with a strange purple substance. Almost immediately, Talida slumped forward, her eyes returning to their normal blue and her breathing as heavy as it was before her episode.

"Please...don't hurt him," Talida whimpered.

"Oh, I would have considered leaving him alone, but your lack of cooperation has convinced me otherwise," Starscream sneered before turning to a Vehicon guard, "Lock her back up and ready the troops. We have a target to hit."

* * *

The mysterious substance Starscream injected into Talida had worked its magic on her. For two days, she was out of it. For two days, she was in a daze that nothing could break. Malita hit her and tortured her for hours and got nothing in return save for a blank stare. For some reason, she was kept in her cell for those sessions. They didn't bring her to the interrogation room as they always did before.

Something was different today. As Malita struck her across the face again, hard enough to draw blood from her split lip, Starscream walked into the room.

"No luck?" Starscream inquired.

"Whatever you gave her...I don't know what it's done to her, but she just stares," Malita answered, "Nothing I say, nothing I do... She's not breaking."

"I may be able to change that," Starscream smirked before kneeling before Talida, "You really should have cooperated with me, you know. You should have given up the location of the Autobot base when I first asked you to. You should have joined the Decepticon cause when I first offered the opportunity to you. Then maybe...your precious _Jack_ would still be alive."

Malita expected Talida to give Starscream the blank stare she had always given to her. However, she watched in interest as Talida's eyes widened in horror at the implication.

"What did you do to him?" Talida asked, desperately struggling against her bonds.

"Just know that it happened to him because of you," Starscream snarled as he uncurled his fingers to reveal the object he held in his hand.

It was a piece of cloth. Cloth that was clearly ripped off of a piece of clothing. Talida recognised it anywhere. It was a piece of Jack's shirt. That brown short-sleeved shirt he always wore over his white long-sleeved undershirt (which he always wore regardless of the weather). It wasn't the piece of cloth that horrified her.

But rather the blood that stained it.

Immediately, Talida began panting heavily as the horror washed over her. Her skin turned pale at the thought of Jack - her best friend, the person she loved - being attacked by the very beings she had sworn to protect him from. The very darkness she had tried so hard to keep from him.

All of it was in vain.

Trembling, Talida began screaming. Screams that even broke the sparks of the Vehicons guarding her cell. Screams that even touched Malita (though she did not show it). Screams that sent pleasure through Starscream as he watched his captive suffer.

Screams of pure heartbreak.

Struggling against her bonds, Talida was blinded by the hot tears that shed from her eyes as she continued screaming. Satisfied, Starscream dropped the cloth on the floor, leaving it there to torment his captive further, as he left her cell.

Malita went to follow, but at the doorway, she stopped and turned back to Talida. Her screams were becoming hoarse as her throat began to ache from overuse and her body shook with each and every sob. For a brief moment, she even felt sorry for her.

But then she remembered herself as she shut the door to the cell, leaving her captive to scream Jack's name repeatedly as her very soul shattered.

* * *

 **So...am I evil? Or am I evil?**

 **Now this contained the last torture scene you will see of Talida for this story. Mainly because, as you have seen, torture scenes are not my forte. I'm all sunshine and candy in my stories and if someone tried to tell someone in my story that the word is on fire, I'd hand over a marshmallow. And yes. I know that's from Grey's Anatomy. I watch the show on-and-off.**

 **So you should know the drill by now. Review. Fave. Alert. Whatever.**

 **See you later, alligators!**


	7. False Pretense

**Guys. You've stuck with me for how long? You should be used to me pulling that kind of stuff.**

 **REVIEW REPLIES!**

 **wolverine12: Thanks. If you wanna know if Jack's fine, look below the solid line.**

 **Airreon Princess: Read on to find out. ;)**

 **josephguy217: Thank you.**

 **3luv4eva: Thank you so much for understanding. And is he playing games?**

 **Awesomo3000: Is he lying?**

 **97: Thank you!**

 **Deathstroke101: Might be a while before that happens, unfortunately.**

 **Again. You should be used to it by now.**

 **Again. I own nothing aside from my OC and any of my original plot points.**

 **This chapter is going to be a little bit weird. It takes place between Talida's interrogation and when Starscream walks into her cell with the cloth of Jack's blood. Bit of Jodi Piccoult style going on here. For those who don't know her, she's a really good writer. I highly recommend** ** _My Sister's Keeper_** **. For those who have only seen the movie and not read the book, be in for a bit of a shock.**

 **Song: False Pretense by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. (Almost went with** ** _Lying From You_** **by Linkin Park, but it didn't quite fit with the song.)**

 **ENJOY!**

 **…** **or not…**

* * *

When Starscream walked onto the bridge in search of the Decepticon surveillance chief, he was feeling proud of himself, and he showed it through the way he walked with his head held high, shoulders back and that slight spring in his step, along with the cocky smirk on his face.

"Soundwave," Starscream greeted the surveillance chief as he approached Soundwave at his station, "It appears we have finally found a way to crack Talida Prime."

Wordlessly (as he always did anything), he grabbed the photo of Jack and Talida Starscream had taken from her during the interrogation.

"I need you to run a search for him. Tell me everything there is to know about him," Starscream ordered.

Starscream didn't comment on it at the time, but it almost looked as though Soundwave hesitated with the order before running a facial recognition program. Within seconds, he pulled up a social media page.

"Hmmm… Jack Darby. Age: 14. Lives in Jasper, Nevada. Her childhood best friend," Starscream sneered, "And I'd wager he knows nothing of our little war."

Together, Starscream and Soundwave scrolled through Jack's social media site. They found the usual posts teenagers did complaining about schoolwork (maths, or, more specifically, algebra, seemed to be a point of contention). But, more interestingly, they found a photo of Talida front and centre related to her disappearance.

"I was correct. He knows nothing of our little war," Starscream smirked, reading about how Talida's disappearance was being treated as a car accident, "Well, I think it's time to introduce him to the Decepticon cause."

What Soundwave showed him next, was not pleasing.

"What do you mean he's being shadowed?" Starscream demanded, "Oh well. We must simply wait for when he's alone. Send Laserbeak to do some shadowing of our own so we know the best time to strike."

* * *

Panting, Jack sat down on a rock that was so conveniently nearby, gulping down on the last remnants of water in his water bottle.

Five days. Talida had been missing for five days now. Yesterday, he had finally worked up the courage to call Agent Fowler – the man who had initially questioned him – to see if there was anything he could tell him about the investigation into her disappearance. Regretfully, the man gave him no answer, saying that he legally couldn't divulge anything about an ongoing investigation.

Now, Jack understood that. Really. He did. But the lack of answers angered him.

Especially since now, more and more the longer her disappearance dragged on, he became convinced that Talida had been hiding something from him. Looking back, it all made sense.

The one thing he couldn't figure out was the secret and what that secret entailed.

He heard buzzing. Thinking it was the beginnings of heat stroke, he shrugged it off. Jasper High had shut early due to some plumbing issues, so Jack took the opportunity to start his search for Talida earlier than normal.

Those thoughts were abandoned when the buzzing sound moved closer.

Looking up, Jack saw a winged drone approaching him from the clouds. For a few moments, he sat motionless. He had no idea what it was and wouldn't move until he felt he had to.

Then suddenly, the drone began opening fire.

Screaming, Jack scrambled to avoid the lasers, leaving his backpack and supplies behind. He ran in random patterns, trying to confuse the drone's line of fire. Unfortunately, Laserbeak was too smart for that trick and kept its focus on Jack.

As he went to run up a sand dune, Jack thought things couldn't get worse.

An explosion took that thought away from him.

* * *

Ratchet was going about business as normal. Running a check on the slowly healing Cliffjumper. Scanning for new Energon deposits to boost their dwindling supply. Searching for the individual unknowingly responsible for holding the team together.

Then he got an alert.

Hoping it was something related to Talida, he was quick to investigate. His hopes dissipated when he found that it wasn't Talida somehow escaping and calling for help.

They skyrocked again when he isolated the cause.

"Optimus! We have a situation!" Ratchet called, causing the Autobots to run into the room.

"New Energon deposit?" Arcee inquired.

"Better. Decepticon activity," Ratchet corrected, "In the desert outside of the base."

"Why would they attack there?" Bumblebee bleeped in confusion.

"It doesn't matter. It's the first lead we've had since Tally's been captured. We need to go out there and make them tell us where they're holding her!" Cliffjumper exclaimed, struggling to stand up from his berth.

"I have not cleared you to return to duty, Cliffjumper," Ratchet reminded him, "You still struggle to walk, let alone transform and hold your vehicle mode for longer than five minutes."

"I know how much you want to be involved, Cliffjumper, but your recovery is just as critical as Talida's," Optimus rumbled.

" _PRIME!_ "

"Agent Fowler, this is not a good time. We're about to investigate a Decepticon attack," Ratchet cut in.

" _That's why I'm calling in. The Decepticons found out about Jack._ "

The optics of every Autobot in the room widened in horror. They should have been prepared for the fact that the Decepticons would try to use Jack to get to Talida. Especially if she was withstanding all of their interrogation techniques.

But they honestly did not think they would attack Jack in broad daylight. Even in an isolated place like the desert.

"Ratchet, lock onto the coordinates and bridge us out there!" Optimus ordered.

"Optimus, we're on low supply and the location is within driving distance. Shouldn't we save the Energon?" Ratchet argued.

"I understand your concern, but Jack is in danger. We cannot afford any delays. And we also cannot afford to risk the Decepticons finding our base," Optimus said firmly before adding as an afterthought, "Prepare sick bay. Just in case."

The last few words were unsaid, but they hung in the air nonetheless. Just in case they are able to rescue Talida.

With a final cry of, "AUTOBOTS, ROLL OUT!", Optimus, Arcee, Bulkhead and Bumblebee raced through the swirling GroundBridge portal.

* * *

Coughing and spluttering – both from the smoke of the explosion and the sand that got knocked around as a result – Jack struggled onto his hands and knees, his arms buckling as they struggled to support his weight. His ears ringed from the sound of the explosion.

With the smoke, he could hardly see a thing as he slowly, but surely, worked his way to standing on his own two feet.

However, when the smoke cleared, and his ears finally stopped ringing, he decided he would rather be blind from the smoke and deaf from the explosion.

As Starscream stood before him.

"Hello, Jack," Starscream sneered.

"How do you know me? Who are you?!" Jack demanded.

"I am Starscream, and we have someone in common," Starscream, surprisingly, answered his questions.

"What are you?" Jack then asked.

"I believe I am what you humans would call an alien," Starscream shrugged, "I would like you to come with me."

"Like that's gonna happen," Jack scoffed as he went to stumble away from the Decepticon's second-in-command.

"Oh. So I'll tell Talida that you don't want to see her," Starscream simpered.

That made Jack freeze in his step. He could feel his blood run cold as he slowly turned around to face Starscream with a menacing look in his eyes.

"What are you talking about?! How do you know her?!" Jack yelled.

"You mean you haven't figured it out? Her disappearance? My interest in you?" Starscream scoffed.

Slowly, but surely, the pieces of the puzzle came together. Talida didn't simply get into a car accident and disappeared as Agent Fowler had told him. She was kidnapped by…whatever Starscream was.

And now, he had to wonder if her family weren't working on a top-secret project for the military, but rather _were_ the top-secret project. It was a bit of a stretch, but considering what he was currently facing, he considered it to be a logical solution.

"You took her," Jack said in horror.

"She has been our… _guest_ for the last few days. A rather uncooperative one at that," Starscream smirked, "I was hoping you would make her talk."

"If she's not talking to you, she must have a good reason," Jack spat.

"I was thinking more stubbornness," Starscream retorted.

Despite himself, Jack shrugged a little bit. Talida had a pretty strong stubborn streak and it spent more time getting her in trouble than anything else. Something that was clearly being demonstrated, one could argue.

"Where is she?" Jack demanded.

"Come with me and you'll find out," Starscream offered.

"STARSCREAM!"

Jack had gotten enough of a shock when he saw Starscream. He got another one when he saw four more of these…creatures race through the desert with their guns drawn at their enemy.

"Glad you could join the party, Prime. I was just wondering if this little pest would be more cooperative than your daughter," Starscream simpered.

' _Did he just say daughter?_ ' Jack thought to himself, wondering how someone who, from all appearances, was human come from these…he didn't know what they were.

"What have you done to her?" the blue femme growled.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about her anymore," Starscream waved his hand dismissively, "You know what happens to Autobots who don't cooperate in Decepticon interrogations."

When Jack would be asked to recall this moment later, he would struggle to tell whoever asked which alien fired first. All he knew was the sand was getting kicked up once more and he was once again running for his life.

He heard Prime tell another – Arcee, her name was? – to protect Jack while the others dealt with Starscream.

It was in that moment that they realized that they had forgotten about Laserbeak, who had taken the opportunity to swoop down and try to take Jack as Starscream fired another missile, sending them hurtling through the air. Screaming, Jack found himself leaving the ground in the claws of the drone, with Arcee chasing after him as a… _did she just transform into a freaking motorcycle_?!

Determined, Arcee raced up a nearby sand dune, giving her the leverage to fly into the air. Transforming mid-air, she fired upon Laserbeak, stunning him enough to release his grip on Jack. He heard the distinct sound of fabric ripping and felt the pain of something cutting into his side as he felt the metal claws loosening. He would have fallen to certain death if Arcee had not caught him in her hand before landing on another sand dune, tumbling down the hill before coming to a stop on a flat stretch of desert.

Jack could see the black spots beginning to block his vision. He could hear the distant sound of gunfire and the sound of Arcee radioing for transport back to her base. He could see her distinct form blocking the bright sun above him before his vision went completely hazy.

The last thing he heard before it all went dark was Arcee screaming his name.

The last thought he had was, ' _My best friend lied to me._ '

* * *

 **Yeah, needless to say, I struggled with this chapter for months. Hence the long wait.**

 **Writer's block. What can I say?**

 **Well, you guys know the drill. Review. Fave. Alert. Whatever. Can't promise speedy updates. Last week of uni. Overseas holidays with my parents coming up.**

 **SEE YA!**


	8. I'm Stuck

**Hi, guys!**

 **I know I haven't been active in a while. I'm just posting this to keep you updated.**

 **First of all, I have NOT given up on Save You. I have every intentions of continuing the story. I am not abandoning it. I've just been encountering some...difficulties.**

 **The main reason I'm writing this is because I need your help. The difficulties I mentioned earlier can be surmised in two words: I'm stuck. Which happens to be the title of this note. I know that with this chapter, I want Jack to wake up in the base and learn more about the Autobots and the situation with Talida's kidnapping. I just don't know how to approach it or...flesh it out, so to speak. So needless to say...I need help. A lot of it.**

 **Thank you!**


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